


So Far Away

by ComicKid99



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coincidences, Destiny, F/M, Fate, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Fluff, Humour, I hope, Romance, Story is better than the description, i love this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 07:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4556130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicKid99/pseuds/ComicKid99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The 8 times Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons almost meet, and the one time they finally did. Fitzsimmons fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Far Away

Leo Fitz liked to consider himself a good person, and he was. He was polite, caring and funny (well, he hoped he was funny). He had a nice apartment in the city, he loved his job at SciTech, the scientific organisation that appeared from nowhere and conquered the world, and he was finally accustomed to life in America; Scotland was a distant memory.

Life wasn't perfect, however. His job did mean long hours and moments of stress, so he didn't have much free time or happiness, and his love life…

Well, the phrase 'what love life?' sums it up perfectly.

He couldn't even remember the last time he'd so much as _touched_ a woman that wasn't his mother on one of her many, _many_ visits.

It was 8.20am on the dot when he walked out of his apartment door as he prepared to embark on his walk through the busy streets to get to work at SciTech.

Just as he did so, the woman he lived in the apartment directly opposite him, less than five metres away, appeared from the nearby staircase with a smile.

"Hey, Fitz!"

"Good morning, Skye." Leo said happily.

"Off to work?" Skye asked.

"As always. You're up early." Leo commented.

"I know; I just couldn't get to sleep last night. Thought I might as well get my mail from downstairs now." Skye explained, holding up a small pile of letters in her hand as she opened her front door.

"Well, SciTech calls. I'll see you around, Skye." Leo said, walking off.

"Fitz, wait! You saying SciTech reminded me. Remind me to introduce you to a friend of mine when you have the chance. I met her a few months ago at the electronics store and she is perfect for you. Smart and beautiful." Skye said happily.

"Beautiful? Not the type that normally go for me, then." Leo chuckled, secretly sad inside.

"Come on, Fitz, you're handsome on a good day!"

"Gee, thanks."

"Look, her name's Jemma, Jemma Simmons. She's a little bit shorter than you, always wears remarkably stylish clothing, short brown hair and the most radiant hazel eyes. She's _stunning_! She reminds me so much of you, PLUS she works at SciTech too! You might have seen her around." Skye explained.

"Skye, SciTech is a skyscraper with 68 floors that employs thousands of people. I highly doubt I've seen her around. What division does she work in?" Leo asked.

"Um…biochem, I think." Skye answered.

"I've never been to the biochem floors; I'm right in the middle of the building stuck in the engineering department all day."

"Well, maybe I could set you two up sometime?" Skye suggested.

"Or I could set you up instead? How about my friend Grant?" Leo asked sarcastically.

"Don't be a grumpy Scotsman, Fitz." Skye said.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't have much time for relationships anyway. And what are the chances someone you happened to befriend in a random shop is the woman I'm meant to be with? In America of all places? No offence, but I prefer British accents in conversation." Fitz stated.

"Well, she's English. Score one to Fitz's soulmate." Skye smiled.

"…I'm going to work now. Bye, Skye." Leo said, rolling his eyes as he headed for the stairway.

"Remember the name, Jemma Simmons! It'll mean something to you one day!" Skye shouted after him with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it will." Leo grumbled as he headed down the stairs.

…

_Jemma Simmons considered herself a hard-working woman, dedicating all the time she could to her work advancing the field of biochem; she wanted to make a difference in the world._

_She'd studied hard in school, graduated years early and didn't even need to interview for her job at SciTech. She loved being in America following her dreams, but she still missed her home in England on occasion. It was a much simpler time._

_Now, it was working hard at work and then working hard at home on experiments and reports she hadn't finished at work that day. It was stressful but she got a thrill out of it. She loved science more than anything else. Well, except her parents. And Doctor Who._

_She wasn't sure she'd ever love anything else, certainly not ANYONE else. She'd had boyfriends, of course, but she got bored of them within seconds of them talking. She found her work far more interesting, leaving her love life something to be desired._

_At 8.35am she left her apartment for her short walk to work, just as the man who lived in the apartment opposite, Grant Ward, walked out of his door in a white vest and black shorts, exposing his large arms and muscular physique._

_"Morning, Jemma."_

_"Good morning, Grant. Off for your morning run?" Jemma asked._

_"As always. Off to work?" Grant asked in retaliation._

_"As always."_

_"You work at SciTech, right?" Grant asked._

_"Yes, why?"_

_"Well, a friend of mine works there who reminds me a lot of you. I think you'd really hit it off. He's Scottish, a bit of manly stubble, blue eyes, which women apparently dig…maybe I could set you two up? He denies it, but I know how lonely he is." Grant explained._

_"Are you saying I'm lonely?"_

_"No, no! Of course not! I just…I haven't seen you bring someone back in a while and I thought you might be interested, is all. I haven't known him too long, we met at the gym, but he's a great guy." Grant said_ _._

_"He, uh…he goes to the gym?" Jemma asked, intrigued._

_"Well…sometimes. I met him because he's friends with the owner, a Mr Coulson, and he was fixing up one of the vending machines for him. He does engineering at SciTech." Grant revealed._

_"Ah, I see. Well, as interesting as he sounds, and I do very much approve of the Scottish accent and blue eyes, I don't have the time right now. Thanks for your concern, anyway." Jemma said, waving as she walked towards the stairwell._

_"I think you'd feel differently seeing him in person. Leo Fitz is his name! Keep a lookout!" Grant shouted after her._

_"Yeah, because one random bloke will evidently turn out to be the love of my life." Jemma said under her breath, oozing sarcasm._

…

_Jemma smiled at her watch satisfyingly as she walked into the main entrance at SciTech._

_8.51am. The earliest she'd been so far that week. An extra 9 minutes of work! Wonderful._

_"Good morning!" Jemma smiled as she walked by the reception desk, scanning her employee card through a slot in the nearby gate, which lit up green and opened as she walked through and towards the elevator just around the corner to take her to her level._

Leo couldn't help but grin as he walked into the building as his watch just turned to 8.52am.

He was pretty sure he'd never been that early before, which probably doesn't say much for his ability to get out of bed in the morning.

"Hi." He whispered shyly to the receptionist as he scanned his card through the slot and the gate opened for him, allowing him to head for the elevator.

_"Morning." Jemma nodded to the two people already in the elevator as she stepped in and pressed the button, causing the doors to slide slowly shut._

"Buggar." Leo whispered as he turned the corner and just saw the elevator doors close. He sighed as he pressed the 'up' button and waited patiently for the next available ride to his floor.

He'd rather die than walk 34 flights of stairs, after all.

…

A few weeks later, Leo's favourite café, Kree's, had finally started making white hot chocolates again now Christmas was less than a month away; he wished their menu didn't change with the seasons but he was grateful that they produced the delicacy that was white hot chocolate at all.

He couldn't help but smile as he walked by the tables filled of people chatting away and arrived at the counter.

"Large white hot chocolate to go, please." Leo smiled.

"Marshmallows and whipped cream?" The barista asked.

"Absolutely." Leo grinned, making the barista chuckle.

"Coming right up."

Leo felt the excitement build inside him and spotted the toilets in the corner of the room.

"I'm just popping to the toilet, I'll be right back." Leo told the barista, who nodded as he walked towards the bathroom, in his excitement slamming the door shut behind him very loudly.

_"Yes Skye, I'll get you one too. No marshmallows? Are you mad? Fine, fine. I'll get them then I'll be right over. Bye." Jemma said over the phone as she walked into Kree's, her favourite café that had finally started serving white hot chocolate again in time for Christmas._

_A loud bang sounded as she walked in, making her jump, and she looked in the direction of the bathroom door in the corner as she approached the counter._

_"Someone's desperate." She commented under her breath._

_"Can I help?" The barista asked._

_"Yes, can I have two white hot chocolates to go, please?" Jemma asked._

_"Of course. Marshmallows and whipped cream?"_

_"My friend wants just whipped cream on hers, but for me? Absolutely." Jemma grinned._

_"Coming right up." The barista smiled._

_Quick as a flash, Jemma was handed two cups with a smile as she noticed a third had been placed on the side; she was tempted to grab it and run so she could have more for herself._

_"Thanks very much." Jemma smiled as she payed the barista and walked out, taking a right as she went, hearing the bathroom door click open as she went._

The bathroom door clicked open as Leo walked out with a smile, his eyes catching the cup on the side of the counter.

Getting out his wallet, he payed the barista and grinned as he walked out of the café, taking an immediate left to meet up with Grant.

…

Leo's fortnight long Christmas break from work had finally arrived; the only two weeks of the year he didn't work. He had a week of freedom before his mother came to visit, and there was only one place he wanted to go.

The Library.

He knew he wasn't the most exciting person in the world, but he liked spending his free time reading as much as he possibly could. He mostly wanted to read up on other fields studied at SciTech so he could freak out some of his co-workers, so immediately headed for the science section.

As he skimmed through title after title, his attention was caught by a particular name that rang a bell for him.

'Advanced Biochem: Volume 1'.

He remembered Skye telling him his 'dream girl' Jemma…something (it definitely began with an S) worked in the biochem division.

Hell, it must be worth a read.

He picked up the large volume and realised it would be too big to fit in his bag.

"Buggar." Leo whispered to himself as he took a moment to think before a photocopier at the side of the vast room caught his eye.

"Just photocopy the first few chapters, sorted." He said to himself as he headed towards the copier.

_Jemma walked into the library and felt instantly at home. She came much more often than she'd care to admit._

_Mostly, her goal had been for months now to finally book out a biochem book a colleague suggested she read, but she always got distracted by the fiction section and booked out a book from there instead._

_This time, however, she was determined to complete her mission. Not that she was a spy or anything._

_Heading straight for the science section, Jemma located the aisle she wanted and looked for the book_

_. "Advanced Biochem: Volume 2…3…4…the one time you actually go to book it out, Jemma." Jemma sighed to herself, annoyed that someone had beaten her Volume 1._

_"Maybe it's just hidden somewhere." Jemma thought, and headed round the opposite side of the aisle to see if someone had hidden the book away._

Leo scanned the first twenty pages after paying the fee with his library card and waited for the printouts, but nothing happened.

"Might as well put it back while I wait." Leo said, rushing back to the aisle and placing the book back where he found it before returning to the printer.

Rolling his eyes, he headed for the reception desk when he saw there was still nothing printing.

_Returning back round the other side, Jemma sighed as she looked back to where she wished the book was._

_"Hang on, it's…that wasn't there before." Jemma commented, seeing the book she wanted was magically there._

_She happily picked it up and headed for the nearby photocopier, where she quickly started scanning the first few chapters. She had too much paperwork in her bag to fit the whole volume in to carry it home._

"Sorry to bother you, but the photocopier doesn't seem to be printing." Leo told the receptionist.

"Okay, I'll try and reprint it from my computer." The receptionist said.

"Thank you."

"…It says it's printing now."

"Brilliant, thanks. While I'm here, can you check to see how many points I've got on my card?" Leo asked politely, hoping he'd finally saved enough to get a free bookmark.

_The moment Jemma finished scanning, the photocopier burst into life and printed out the exact pages she'd just scanned._

_"I didn't even pay and press 'print'…odd." Jemma noticed, but simply shrugged as she picked up the stack of printed paper and the book before heading back to the aisle to return the volume._

"Thank you!" Leo said happily as he turned away from the desk and returned to the photocopier, fiddling happily with his brand new bookmark as he reached it.

However, there were still no printouts to be seen.

"Buggar." He whispered, sighing as he returned to the reception desk with a sweet smile.

"Me again…"

_Jemma walked out of the library with a big smile on her face. She was free of work for a fortnight, Christmas was coming and she could finally start reading her colleague's recommendation._

_Mission accomplished._

…

Leo hated the bus. Absolutely hated it.

However, the heavy snow over Christmas and New Year still hadn't melted, so he couldn't risk walking to work. Knowing his luck he'd slip and break his neck and become the star of the next viral internet video.

As the bus sped down the road, Kree's Café caught his eye, and Leo saw an opportunity. SciTech wasn't too far from there, and he could now start the day with a white hot chocolate while he still had the chance.

He pressed the button and he gave thanks to a higher being that there was a stop right outside the café, as he jumped off and walked inside, glancing at the bus stop as he did so.

A few people had stood up to get onto the bus, but one of them seemed engrossed in their phone and, with a huge scarf covering most of their face, they probably couldn't hear the bus' engine.

Leo just shrugged and continued inside.

_Jemma hated the bus. Absolutely hated it._

_However, the heavy snow over Christmas and New Year still hadn't melted, so she couldn't risk walking to work. She didn't want to break her neck and cause a scene._

_Luckily, she'd had an idea as she was getting ready that cheered her up. If she left early enough, she could go to Kree's on the earlier bus, have a white hot chocolate (while she still had the chance) and then get her regular bus to go to work on time._

_Which is exactly what she did._

_The white hot chocolate was more than worth it, but she was then left out in the freezing cold with a few strangers at the bus stop waiting for the bus to turn up. Luckily, she had her favourite scarf on, which she pulled over most of her face to keep the cold out while she began texting Skye, telling her to stop going on about this 'Fitz' guy and how perfect he is for her._

_It wasn't until she'd happened to look up from her phone that she saw the bus had arrived, and the other people at the stop had stood up and were getting she. She pulled down her scarf and rushed onto the bus._

_She'd have appreciated it if someone had told her it had arrived; it was nearly a disastrous start to her working day._

…

_Jemma told Skye that she wanted to find a guy on her own now a recent promotion at work gave her more flexible hours and therefore more free time. So, she'd gone to a speed dating event, met a guy who was kind of dull but nice to look at (was his name Adam? Andy? Arthur?) and agreed to go on a proper date with him at a fancy restaurant, Melinda's Palace._

_Forty five minutes of sitting alone at a table later, she knew she'd been stood up. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so bad about herself._

_To cheer herself up, she decided to head straight to the bar and spend her night there. She wasn't that hungry anyway._

Leo walked into Melinda's Palace and sat at a table with Coulson, the owner of the local gym. The two had become good friends and decided to go out to celebrate Leo getting a promotion at work. Apparently, the best performer in each division had received a promotion, flexible hours and a pay rise. Life was good.

"Congrats, buddy. You deserve it!" Coulson said with a smile.

"Cheers, Phil." Leo smiled as a waiter approached them.

"Phil, good to see you! You practically live here, huh?"

"What can I say? I love it in here; it's a magical place. Look, we're watching a movie soon so can we just get two cokes and two side orders of fries? And tell Melinda I said hello." Coulson explained.

The waiter nodded and walked off.

"Melinda, the owner, and I…we go way back. I get a discount in here. She loves me." Coulson explained.

"Someone has to." Leo smirked.

"Whatever, Mr Big Shot." Coulson chuckled.

Sometime later, Coulson had cleared his basket of fries while Leo still had about half left.

"We better get going; we're gonna miss the movie. The hero creates a robot that decides to kill all of humanity. We don't wanna miss that!" Coulson said.

"Agreed, I'm stuffed anyway." Leo said, standing up as Coulson put down some money on the table.

The waiter returned to them with a smile.

"Thank you for stopping by." He said.

"Oh, and can you make sure those don't go to waste?" Leo asked, pointing at his fries.

"Of course. Um…well, there is a woman at the bar over there who hasn't eaten anything and might need help absorbing the alcohol. She's pretty giddy." The waiter explained.

"Yeah, give them to her." Leo smiled.

_"On the house, a customer didn't want them to go to waste." A waiter explained to Jemma as she struggled to stay on the stool at the bar, handing her a basket of fries. There were still quite a few left._

_"Well, that was VERY kind of them. THANK YOU, KIND STRANGER!" Jemma yelled out, causing a few heads to turn and look at her as she chuckled._

"Did you hear that yelling?" Coulson asked as he and Leo stepped out of the restaurant.

"That must be the lucky lady who got my fries." Leo chuckled as they walked on.

…

Now the weather had picked up, Leo could finally start walking to and from work again. He loved getting the fresh air every day, but he loved his new working hours more. Finishing at 1pm on a Friday was a fantastic feeling.

Deciding to do some light reading as he walked home, he pulled out a photocopy of chapter 23 of 'Advanced Biochem: Volume 1', which he had photocopied the day before, and began reading it intently.

As the journey continued and he crossed the street, he barely paid any attention to what was around him. He felt a slight bump, but was too engrossed in his reading to register that he may have hit someone and forgot to apologise.

_Now the weather had picked up, Jemma could finally start walking to and from work again. She loved getting the fresh air every day, but she loved her new working hours more. Starting at 1.30pm and getting a lie in on a Friday was a fantastic feeling._

_As her journey to work went on and she crossed the street, she saw someone heading towards her with a big pile of paper held in front of him, blocking his face. She assumed he's notice he was heading directly towards her and move out of the way, but he didn't and bashed right into her._

_She turned back, but the man had carried on walking without so much as an acknowledgment of her presence or an apology._

_"Charming." Jemma commented snarly as she walked on._

…

_"Yes Skye, I'll get a bottle of that too. It's YOUR birthday party that YOU'RE hosting, shouldn't you be getting all of this yourself? Yes, I am your friend and yes, I love you, but…okay, whatever. But you owe me, okay?" Jemma said over the phone as she pushed a trolley down the local supermarket._

_She never knew why, but she loved going shopping in supermarkets late at night; she got a weird enjoyment out of it._

_It also seemed to benefit Skye, who, despite having a birthday party for herself at her apartment the very next night, had forgotten to buy alcohol. So, being the good friend she is, Jemma agreed to buy some to bring as she was going shopping after work anyway._

He never knew why, but Leo loved going shopping in supermarkets late at night; he got a weird enjoyment out of it. Maybe it was the lack of people. Maybe it was the interesting characters that did show up. Maybe it was something else entirely.

The only reason he'd gone shopping was because Skye had invited him to her birthday party at her apartment the next night, and he'd forgotten all about it so had to resort to buying her a bottle of alcohol as a present.

He didn't know her terribly well, but enough to know she liked her wine. And whiskey. And beer. And alcohol in general.

_Jemma chuckled to herself as she stood in the alcohol aisle and loaded two bottles of wine into her trolley and saw just how much alcohol she was buying; it was bordering on the ridiculous, but she knew Skye would moan for weeks if she didn't buy even one thing on her list._

_She was going to get her money back anyway, so she might as well just go along with Skye's demands._

_Satisfied, she pushed her trolley down the aisle and headed towards the checkout._

Leo entered the alcohol aisle just as he saw a trolley loaded with drinks vanish from the opposite end.

He didn't see who was pushing the trolley, but they clearly had a problem.

_Just as she reached the checkout, Jemma double checked Skye's list, then sighed as she realised it was double sided._

_With a groan, she headed back towards the alcohol aisle._

"That'll do." Leo commented abruptly, picking up the biggest bottle he could see and placing it in his trolley, heading towards the frozen goods to buy ice cream.

_Jemma reached the aisle just as someone on the opposite end had vanished from view; she was glad they didn't have to see how much she was buying._

_Where was Skye going to get all the money from?_

_"Right, let's do this." Jemma sighed as she read through the seemingly endless list of what she knew would end up causing an immeasurable amount of sickness, hangovers and regret within the next 24 hours._

…

"Fitz! You came!" Skye exclaimed the following night as she opened her door and saw Leo smiling at her, dressed in a nice shirt and trousers.

"It was a long walk," Leo joked, turning to face his apartment door directly behind him, "but you're worth it. Happy birthday."

"Thank you!" Skye exclaimed, taking Leo's gift of a large bottle of alcohol from him and hugging him as she led him inside.

"There's not too many of us here yet, just my friends Lance, Bobbi, Raina, Gordon and Lincoln, but there'll be plenty more to come, including Jemma Simmons. Remember that name?" Skye teased.

"My 'one true love', right?" Leo said sarcastically.

"Just you wait. I give it two hours until you take her back to your apartment and show her your shortbread." Skye chuckled, clearly already very drunk.

"Your charm knows no bounds." Leo cringed as he took a seat on the couch and introduced himself to Skye's friends.

_"Jemma! You came!" Skye exclaimed, hugging Jemma and taking the huge bags of alcohol off of her._

_"I'll give you the money for this later, I promise." Skye smiled._

_"Take your time. Look, Skye-"_

_"-Jem, you'll never guess who's here! There's this guy who lives opposite me; I've been telling him about you for AGES. He's perfect for you. Where is he?" Skye wondered, looking around._

_"The Scottish guy? He's in the toilet." A drunken Lance said, practically passed out on the couch with Bobbi asleep on his lap._

_"FITZ, GET IN HERE! JEMMA'S HERE! GET MINGLING!" Skye shouted._

_"Skye, I…I can't stay. Wait, did you say Fitz?" Jemma asked._

_"You're going? You JUST got here, Jem!" Skye protested._

_"I know, I'm sorry. I just needed to drop the drinks round. There's been an accident at SciTech, broken equipment. I've been called in urgently. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I swear. Give me the drink money another time. Okay, have fun! I really have to go!" Jemma exclaimed, rushing out and slamming the door._

Leo heard a loud slam as he walked out of the bathroom and saw a disappointed Skye staring at her front door.

"Okay, and where is this dream woman of mine?" Leo asked.

"…She had to go." Skye said sadly.

"You know, I'm pretty sure you invented this girl as a prank." Leo chuckled.

…

_A few months later, Jemma sat excitedly on a chair in the bookstore holding a magazine in her hands._

_The time of the month had arrived, and the latest issue of Science Today was out._

_It was by far her favourite magazine, but for the wrong reason._

_She spent hours every month going through and finding the embarrassingly high amount of mistakes the magazine makes; she and her colleagues at SciTech get huge entertainment value out of it._

_It was more than worth than the (far too high, really) price for the joy it brought to her to see a professional publication get simple science laughably wrong._

Leo had to stop himself from running into the bookstore.

He looked forward to the day every month that Science Today was published; he could spend the rest of his life going through every issue and finding the hilarious scientific errors made.

He and his co-workers at SciTech get a real kick out of spotting them. It was worth buying every issue (even if it was slightly expensive for a magazine of its small page size and number) just to keep at home for a rainy day when he needed a laugh.

He rushed to the magazine section and picked up a copy before quickly purchasing it, and was unable to wait until he got home to start perusing it; he had to find somewhere to sit.

_Jemma was holding in laughter by the time she'd only gotten to page three, and wished she'd brought her pen to circle the errors ready for work tomorrow._

_Wondering if she could borrow a pen from a member of staff, she got out of her seat and walked round the corner._

Leo walked to the seating area and caught a glimpse of someone leave a chair, so he smiled and sat there, opening the magazine with a smirk on his face.

_A few minutes later, Jemma had given up on her hunt for a pen as the staff were nowhere to be seen and she didn't want to disturb the cashiers._

_She returned to the seating area and sighed when she saw someone was in her seat._

_Hang on? Was he reading…Science Today? He was._

_Then she saw she'd left her bag right next to the chair, but on the side furthest from her._

_"Great." She sighed to herself as she approached the man._

_"Sorry, I left my bag there." Jemma said._

_"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you saved the chair. Sorry." Came a Scottish voice, who quickly stood up._

_"Oh no, I didn't mean-"_

 

Then she looked into his eyes.

_Then he looked into her eyes._

 

"…Hi." Leo said.

"Hi." Jemma replied softly, grabbing her bag.

"I see you've bought Science Today." Leo noted after a period of silence.

"Oh, yeah. Just for fun, though. I just look for the mistakes." Jemma admitted.

"Oh, me too. My colleagues and I have fun with that!" Leo said enthusiastically.

"As do I with mine!" Jemma said happily.

"Where do you work?" They both asked at one.

"SciTech." They both replied at once.

Jemma took a moment to inspect the man in front of her. He was handsome and just a tad taller than here and…

…Hang on. Scottish. Stubble. SciTech. And his eyes were a gorgeous blue.

"Oh my god." Jemma whispered.

"…Sorry?" Leo asked, confused.

"…Um…it's not Fitz, by any chance? Leo Fitz?" Jemma asked, hopeful.

"How did you know…oh?"

He looked at her. Short brown hair. Dressed well. Beautiful, stunning even. English. Hazel eyes.

"…Jemma? Jemma Simmons?" Leo asked.

Jemma's face lit up.

"That's me."

"My friend Skye told me about you." Leo admitted.

"My friend Grant told me about you." Jemma replied, shaking Leo's hand.

The two stared at each other for a moment, their faces both growing red.

"It's very, very nice to finally meet you." Leo said.

"You too. At last." Jemma blushed.

Silence again. Leo was desperate to end the awkwardness.

"…So, you work in biochem, right?" He asked and she nodded happily.

"I've been reading about it lately, photocopying from the local library. 'Advanced Biochem…" Leo added.

"…Volume 1'." Jemma finished.

Leo's face filled with shock.

"Yeah. You've read it?"

"Nearly. I've been, uh…photocopying it. From the local…library." Jemma smiled slightly, and Leo smiled back.

"So those times when I can't seem to find it…?" Leo wondered.

"…Yeah." Jemma whispered, slightly flustered.

"…Do you, uh…I don't know…" Leo began, scratching his head.

"Want to get a coffee? I know a nice place." Jemma finished.

"Me too. Kree's, though it's not the same when they're not making their-"

"White hot chocolate?"

"…Yeah!" Leo chuckled and Jemma laughed with him.

She'd met a man who was handsome AND interesting. He'd met a woman who was smart AND beautiful.

"I don't care where we go, really. I just want to talk to you more." Jemma admitted.

"Well, we could try the place just down the block, I…if you want?" Leo suggested.

"I really would…want…that. To go there. With you." Jemma smiled.

"…Good. It's somewhere different, I guess. Somewhere…nice." Leo said.

"Let's go." Jemma grinned, tentatively taking Leo's hand and guiding him out of the bookstore, not planning on doing anything but smile for quite a long time. Leo had the same plan.

Skye and Grant were going to be unbearable when they heard about this.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this whole thing in one go and it is 6:20am as I publish this, so please forgive any errors. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm really proud of this one.


End file.
